Looking Backward

The Blizzard of '83 hit the northeast last weekend, dumping a foot
and a half of snow on Rockaway streets. Local report that the snow removal this
year was the best they have ever seen.

The 1983 Irish Festival has been set for July 30 and 31 at Beach 109 Street and Old Rockaway Beach Boulevard. Last year's event was a success, raising more than $2 thousand for the Irish Foundation. The Committee To Promote Irish Culture hosts the festival each year.

Police in both of Rockaway's precincts are working on a senior citizen identification program that would provide identification cards to all the residents of Rockaway's senior citizen homes. The aim is to provide a quick ID on those seniors who somehow wander away from their homes.

Beach Channel High School students Jonathon Kaufman, Lori Duggan, Eileen Sullivan and Donald Smirti have been appointed to the student advisory council hosted by Queens District Attorney John Santucci. Kaufman has been elected as the president of the council, which advises the DA on youth issues.

Councilman Walter Ward, the chair of the City Council's Parks Committee, has congratulated Mayor Ed Koch for his appointment of Henry Stern as New York City's new Parks Commissioner.

The Surfside Twin Cinema in Rockaway Beach is featuring the movies "Best of Friends" and "The Dark Crystal" on this school holiday week.

Congressman Joseph P. Addabbo has introduced a bill that would protect renters in buildings that convert to condominium or coop status.

The mounds of snow generated by last week's snowstorm have been piled in shopping center parking lots. We remember the time when the snow piles were simply pushed into the bay.

One enterprising transit police officer was seen last week coming to work on a snowmobile

What The Wave Said 30 Years
Ago...

Exploration continues into the possibility of merging the Episcopal parishes of St. John's in Far Rockaway with Trinity in Hewlett. The two represent the first religious institutions on the Rockaway peninsula and both are more than 100 years old.

Since the operator of an automobile who killed four people in another car as he was speeding down Cross Bay Boulevard last year was recently sentenced to four years in prison for his actions, perhaps other drag racers and speeders will take that lesson to heart.

Mayor Lindsay has sent a letter to Ada Zakin, the president of the Far Rockaway Taxpayer and Civic Association assuring her that he had no plans to close the 101 Precinct in Far Rockaway, as has been widely rumored of late.

Consultants hired by Borough President Donald Manes have reported that they would place a Sea Walk along the beachfront. Constructed of sand and concrete, it would replace the boardwalk and would as a protective sea wall along the beach.

What The Wave Said 40 Years
Ago...

Spring cannot be far behind. A few geese were seen spotted flying north and a few crocuses have been seen sticking their heads up through the ground on some local lawns.

John H. Morris sees the removal of parking meters from Mott and Cornaga Avenues between Beach 19 and Beach 20 Street a good argument for additional off-street parking facilities so that traffic can move more freely through the Far Rockaway business district.

Robert Santangello is a motorist who does not take the easy way out. When he got a ticket for passing what he considered an improper traffic light in Lawrence, he spent eight hours of his valuable time fighting the $5 fine.